LEGUMINOSJS. 471 



Hab. Ovolau and Vanua-levu, Feejee Islands. 



" A spreading tree, about 40 feet high ; the branchlets verrucose, 

 and, with the leaves, flowers, &c, entirely glabrous. Stipules linear, 

 very caducous. Leaflets two pairs, of equal size and shape, oval or 

 oblong, 2 or 3 inches in length, more or less unequal-sided, either 

 obtuse or more or less acuminate, but the apex almost always nar- 

 rowly emarginate, coriaceous in texture, dull or pale, sometimes a little 

 shining above, inconspicuously feather-veined and reticulated. Petiole 

 somewhat woody. Buds of the inflorescence (sessile in the axils and 

 terminal) and also the leaf-buds, large and scaly, two-thirds of an inch 

 long, ovoid-fusiform ; the scales coriaceous, orbicular or ovate, finely 

 striate, minutely rusty-pubescent externally, regularly imbricated, 

 deciduous before the flowers expand; the uppermost passing into 

 spatulate and linear and chartaceous deciduous bracts, which are as 

 long as the pedicels, Racemes short and corymb-like, nearly sessile, 

 often as long as the leaves; the flowers (apparently flesh-colour) 

 crowded, on pedicels of about an inch in length. At the base of each 

 is a pair of subulate, stipule-like bractlets, which are sparsely hispid 

 on the midrib. Tube of the calyx turbinate, fleshy, free from the 

 substipitate base of the ovary, which it closely encloses ; the lobes 4, 

 petaloid, oblong, naked and glabrous, half an inch long. Petals 4, 

 spatulate-lanceolate, as long as the lobes of the calyx, inserted on its 

 throat. Stamens 21 to 32, inserted with the petals : filaments fili- 

 form, an inch in length : anthers oval-oblong, subcordate, with a 

 rather fleshy connective; the two cells longitudinally dehiscent for 

 their whole length. Ovary flat, oblong, somewhat falcate, smooth and 

 glabrous, or slightly pubescent towards the apex, two-ovuled, tapering 

 into a slender, filiform, and straightish style, which is terminated by 

 a depressed discoid stigma. Mature fruit not seen. 



There are two or three forms of this species in the collection, vary- 

 ing principally in the breadth of the leaflets. One, from Ovolau 

 (Plate 52, G), has broadly oval and rather thinner leaflets, somewhat 

 shining above, and may possibly belong to a different species ; but it 

 is not in flower, and its large scaly buds are leaf-buds only. 



Plate 52. — Ctnometra grandiflora : A, B. Flowering specimens, 

 two forms, of the natural size. C. Branchlet of a variety with 





